Five sacked by Rolls Royce for porno emails

May 24, 2000

Rolls Royce has sacked five people at its Bristol office for using its corporate
network for sending "grossly offensive" hardcore porn. The employees were given
their marching orders a fortnight ago although their dismissals were subject to
an independent appeal. All five failed to have their dismissals overturned at
separate tribunals.

Earlier this month, The Register reported how 14 people
had been suspended at the defence and aerospace division of Roll Royce for
sending email that contained "inappropriate material". Nine others have returned
to work and have received written or verbal warnings about their conduct. They have
been told that any further abuse of the company's email system will result in immediate
dismissal. Martin Nield, head of communications at Rolls Royce said: "I can confirm that
five people have been dismissed following an investigation by Rolls Royce. The material
sent using our email system was grossly offensive pornography. "None of it was child
pornography," he said.